Archie and Marigold flanked her boys across the table, Archie helping the younger lad cut his roast into manageable pieces. Whatever Aunt Margaret was talking to Callum about had clearly bored him, because he stared mournfully at his empty glass of Scotch whisky while Violet looked on with amusement painted on her delicate features. Rose and her twin, Fern, giggled as they spoke in low voices while Ben slung a protective arm on the back of Rose’s chair, pausing only to welcome Alex back to the group when he returned from checking on the baby in the nursery.
The fireplace crackled behind them, and the woodsy fragrance of the evergreen garlands decorating the mantle spiced the air. The table was littered with half-empty serving platters and plates,and candlelight sparkled against the silver flatware left haphazardly across them. Lily’s fingers itched with the desire to clear them, to make herself useful and escape the person sitting next to her.
Her husband.
Philip picked at his food, his gaze flicking to Lily every few moments, but she pointedly ignored him each time.
The viscountess, seated on Lily’s other side, patted her hand. “It’s a wonder, isn’t it?” she said. “I never thought I’d have all of you around my table again, let alone so happily in love.”
Lily’s gut twisted. She hated lying to her mother, especially at Christmas, but she forced a smile.
Lady Redbourne dabbed her napkin to the corners of her eyes as she went on. “Our first holiday with Callum and Archie, and now Lily has her beloved here. The only thing that would make me happier would be having my garden in bloom.”
The viscount kept his attention on slicing his asparagus into perfectly equal pieces. “Hothouse flowers are expensive, my love.”
“I’m just as thrilled to be here, my lady,” Whit said from Lily’s side.
She snapped her gaze back to her beef, imagining picking it up and flinging it at her husband.
A tear—not the first of the evening—broke free and spilled down her mother’s cheek. “But with Whit—oh dear,Philiphere… It’s perfect.”
Lily dug the fork into her thigh a little harder, then took a healthy swig of the deep scarlet wine in her goblet.
She mustn’t think of her husband as anything but Whit, or Whitby, or the Earl, because Philip was the name of the young man she fell in love with, the man she’d believed would love and cherish her, as he’d vowed to do on that Christmas Day years ago.
The bloody liar. Curse him for ruining Christmas.
“If you’re my uncle,” Matthew said, “why have we never met?”
Marigold placed a quieting hand on her son’s arm, but Whit gave him a kind smile.“That’s a long story, Matthew.”
“Shhh,” Aunt Margaret hissed, waving her hand at the already-silent Callum. “My hearing is terrible, and I want to hear this.”
A tense silence fell over the room, and Lily pressed her fingertip against the tine of the fork.
Whit laid his utensils on his plate, giving his full attention to her nephew. “I’ve been away from England for some time. I was ill, and I needed to go to Europe to get better.”
Reggie lifted his eyes from where he’d been corralling his peas into a neat row with his knife. “England is in Europe.”
Whit chuckled. “You’re correct, and I’ll clarify. It took a long time and quite a bit of travel to find the doctors and… medicine I needed to recover.”
“Was it an earache?” Matthew asked. “I had one of those this summer, and it was bloody awful.”
“Matthew,language,” Marigold chided.
“It wasn’t an earache, but those are awful.”
Aunt Margaret leaned in. “Then what was it?”
The humor drained from Whit’s face, and this time, when he met Lily’s gaze, she didn’t look away. “Supper isn’t the right time to discuss my situation.”
The question slid from her lips before she could restrain it. “Were there complications from the accident?”
His mouth curled up at the edges, as though her bare amount of civility thrilled him, but Reggie spoke before he could respond. “Accident? Were you in an accident?”
“Oh,” Lady Redbourne cut in, “let’s not discuss such a sad time.”
“If you don’t mind, my lady,” Whit said, “I feel I owe some explanation, as it explains my absence, in part. The story begins with my father’s death. He fell ill while I was courting Lily.”
